


No Surprises Here

by starryeyedchar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday Party, College, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 09:03:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11574822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryeyedchar/pseuds/starryeyedchar
Summary: Keith, despite not being a big fan of parties, lets Lance throw him one because it's his first birthday since they started dating. More people arrive than planned, however, and it serves to make Keith very uncomfortable, very quickly. And then they're both upset.





	No Surprises Here

**Author's Note:**

> Just got back from vacation, which means more writing!!! I hope you enjoy; this is for a prompt I got on my tumblr.
> 
> This isn't part of my YouTuber AU series,,, it's a completely unrelated AU world. They're just normal college students!

“SURPRISE!”

The shout was so loud, it had Keith stumbling backwards into Lance, who had turned on the lights to reveal numerous people hiding in his and Hunk's shared apartment.

“Lance,” Keith hissed under his breath. “What did you do?”

“I invited them over to celebrate your birthday!” his boyfriend declared happily, gesturing at the people in the room. Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Hunk, and Shay had all gathered around excitedly. “I know you don't normally do anything, but I wanted to make it special for you. Since, you know, this is the first one we're celebrating... together? I thought you said you were okay with it?”

“Oh. Right.” Keith knew Lance's intentions were pure, but he really didn't feel comfortable in social settings, even with just his closest friends. Lance had invited all these people, and sure he'd told Keith he wanted to have a few people over, but he didn't expect a _party_ party. There was cake, decorations, and everything. Despite liking Hunk, Shay, and Allura, the only people Keith felt _genuinely_ close enough to celebrate his birthday with were Shiro, Lance, and Pidge.

The latter cast a sympathetic smile his way. “I tried to talk him out of it,” she whispered under her breath. “But he really wants to show you how much he cares. Just humor him?”

Keith sighed. At least Pidge understood. Back when he lived on campus, they'd been roommates. Well, until Pidge was discovered to be hiding the fact that she was a girl, but that's a whole separate story. Now, Keith lived in his own apartment off campus.

Keith had tried to talk Lance out of it himself, but he should've realized that with such a big family, birthdays were not something the Cuban boy took lightly.

He was really grateful that Lance was trying, but sometimes he wished that he wasn't so affectionate, especially since Keith felt guilty for not being as good at grand gestures.

“Do... do you not like it?” Lance's smile was wavering, and he wrung his hands. Keith shook his head immediately.

“No, no of course I do! I was just... surprised, that's all,” Keith explained.

Lance's grin was back full force. “I did tell you about it. I just didn't tell you when! Time to cut the cake,” he decided, heading over to the food table. At Keith's panicked look, he snorted. “Don't worry, we're not going to sing.”

A loud knock sounded at the door, and Keith whirled around towards Lance. “Who else did you invite?” The small apartment already felt cramped with just seven people in it.

Lance looked just as bewildered as he was. “N-no one? Just these guys.”

“I invited some friends,” Hunk smiled nervously. “Was... I not supposed to do that?”

“I told some people to come as well,” Allura spoke up. “You did say it was a party, Lance.”

“I call everything a party!” Lance pointed out, exasperated. “You weren't supposed to—”

The door swung open, and several people Keith didn't even _recognize_ filtered in. Maybe he would've been able to handle just a few more, but the groups just kept coming, and soon there was blaring music and red solo cups in the hands of most people there.

The noise was becoming overwhelming, and Keith realized he couldn't find any of his _actual_ friends in the crowd, so he instead pushed his way toward where he knew Lance's bedroom was, and slammed the door behind him.

He sat on the bed, bringing up his hands to cover his ears, just wishing for quiet. The door opened, and he turned to tell whoever it was to get the hell out of Lance's room, only to find his boyfriend staring back at him with a grin.

“Keith, come on, we're about to— ” his smile faded. “Keith?”

He was sitting on the bed, shaking slightly and struggling for breath. Lance was at his side in a second.

“Breathe with me, Keith. In, out. In, out,” Lance encouraged, placing a hand on his back. “There's no one here but you and me. Just focus on catching your breath.”

Soon enough, his erratic breathing had calmed down. “Thanks,” Keith said, blushing, even though Lance had helped him with panic attacks before.

“Do you know what triggered it?”

“I just wanted to be alone,” Keith mumbled, turning back to face the wall.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Keith, come on, no one wants to be alone on their birthday—”

“I do!” Keith blurted, and Lance drew his hand away in shock. “I thought you knew that! I didn't want a party at all! I just wanted it to be us, to watch a stupid movie or something! Not any of...” he gestured wildly. “This!”

“But you said—”

“I told you to throw a party because I could see how much it meant to _you_. Because you wanted to do something special for me! But did you ever think about what I wanted? If you wanted to actually do something nice, then you should've just left it alone!” Keith snapped, but regretted the words as soon as he said them.

Lance's eyes widened. “I'm sorry... I thought maybe that it would... that I could make you happy,” tears started to well up, and Keith tensed. “I j-just thought that... I dunno. I guess I was just being selfish. And... now I've ruined _your_ birthday.”

“Hey, Lance, don't cry,” Keith protested. “You didn't ruin it.”

“Yes I did!” Lance insisted. “I always... I _always_ wreck everything with you, Keith! I'm not good at being in a stupid relationship! And I'm so scared that I'm going to screw this up like I do with _everything_ , and now—”

“I never really celebrated birthdays when I was a kid,” Keith interrupted, and Lance's eyes shifted up to meet his.

“Wh-what?”

“I was in the foster care system for a few years before Shiro's parents adopted me. Was with some pretty rough families, didn't have time to celebrate the birthday of a kid that wasn't theirs. I don't like doing anything for them now because it just reminds me of everything I missed back then. Better just to keep birthdays from being a big deal altogether, it's the way I like it.”

Lance was staring at him thoughtfully. “You don't have to tell—”

“I wanted to,” Keith wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “This isn't your fault, Lance. Hell, you're doing what a normal boyfriend would do. I'm getting upset because you wanted to throw me a _party_. What kind of messed up logic is that?”

Lance laughed softly. “Your logic is always messed up, but at least you have good reasons. I tend not to question it.”

“And here you are worried about screwing everything up,” Keith shook his head. “I'm horrible at stuff like this! I'm always scared I'm going to mess everything up with you.”

“I don't think you could,” Lance mused. "I love you too much.”

Keith was taken aback, sure he must've misheard him. “You what?”

Lance froze in his arms, as if finally aware of what had just come out of his mouth. “I... I mean, um... you see,” he stuttered, before finally bringing his gaze back up to Keith's. “Well, I do. I love you.”

Keith's brain short-circuited. “We've... we've never said that to each other before.”

Lance frowned. “Well, technically we still haven't, since _someone_ hasn't said it back yet—”

Keith interrupted him with a kiss, short and sweet before drawing back again. “I love you, too," he breathed, staring into those ocean blue eyes. “I love you, Lance."

Lance's smile was so bright Keith felt he was looking at the sun. He might as well have been. “You wanna ditch the party and go watch a movie at your place?”

“You know I do.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> that's all folks <3


End file.
